The Movie Crew

Episode 230: The Crew’s reviewing the direct to video Child’s Play sequels, Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky. Franchise creator, Don Mancini wrote and directed both of these sequels. And he brought the horror back to the series while keeping some of the comedy. Fiona Dourif stars in both films and kills it. She’s great and the daughter of Chucky star Brad Dourif. Alex Vincent (Andy) is back afte...

Episode 228: The Crew’s hanging out with the Chucky family while watching Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky. Bride was released two years after Scream, and the film is obviously inspired by Scream’s success. And it worked; as Bride is the highest grossing entry of the franchise. And Jennifer Tilly is a welcomed addition to the cast. Seed of Chucky is the first film directed by Don Mancini, who wr...

Episode 228: The Crew’s stalking with Chucky while watching Child’s Play 2 and Child’s Play 3. After the success of the first film, Universal Studios bought the Child’s Play franchise from MGM/UA. But both of these sequels saw diminishing returns at the box-office. Child’s Play 3 was rushed into production and was released less than year after part 2. Chucky (Brad Dourif) is the star here and the...

Episode 227: The Crew’s running from a killer “My Buddy” doll while watching Tom Holland’s Child’s Play. The film was a hit during it’s theatrical run, and started a franchise that’s been running for 4 decades. The sequels do get silly, but this first installment is genuinely suspenseful. The effects and puppet work (from Kevin Yagher) still hold up today, without the use of CGI. The Crew discusse...

Episode 226: The Crew’s having fun storming the castle while watching Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride. The film wasn’t a box-office success when originally released, but has since gained a massive following. William Goldman’s script is fun and fast paced. And the film is brilliantly cast. However, some of the sets and lighting choices are shockingly bad to some of the Crew. They discuss. If you li...

Episode 225: The Crew’s riding a flying dog to the magical world of Fantasia while watching Wolfgang Petersen’s The NeverEnding Story. This German film with an English speaking cast had a huge $27 million budget. And it shows. The film looks great… the sets, costumes, puppets, lighting, and matte work. And that title song will get stuck in your head. The Crew discusses… If you like our...

Episode 224: The Crew’s searching for pirate treasure while watching Richard Donner’s The Goonies. The film was a modest box-office hit in 1985, but has since gained cult film status. But does the beloved 80’s film hold up, or does it simply hold a nostalgic place in the hearts of fans? The Crew discusses… If you like our music intro, head over to Soundcloud and hear more amazing music...

Episode 223: The Crew’s on an acid trip with muppets while watching Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. This was Henson’s last feature film after an amazing career working with puppets. The film had a huge budget ($25 million at the time) but was a box-office bomb, grossing only $12 million worldwide. The muppets are fun and the sets look great. A young Jennifer Connelly stars with the truly awesome David Bow...

Episode 222: The Crew’s been mistaken for spies while watching Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. The cast, locations, music, special effects, and Grant’s grey suit are so incredibly constructed, the influence is felt in every Bond film. The plane attack was even recreated in “From Russia with Love” with a helicopter. The action set pieces are huge, but when they’re absent from the screen the...

Episode 221: The Crew’s stalking people that look similar to their departed love ones while watching Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The film is considered Hitchcock’s masterpiece but was a box office bomb when originally released. James Stewards’ fourth collaboration with Hitchcock, has him playing against type, he’s creepy and almost becomes a villain by the end. Kim Novak plays two roles and she ma...

Episode 220: The Crew’s running from crazed seagulls and crows as they discuss Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. This was Hitch’s follow up film to his biggest box-office hit, Psycho. It’s also the screen debut of Tippi Hedren. Again, there is no music in the movie, dropping a typical score and replacing it with just bird sounds. The Crew discusses… Link to the Yellow screen matte process used i...

Episode 219: The Crew’s grabbing the telephoto lens to spy on their neighbors while watching Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. All the known elements of a Hitchcock film are here; from the framing devices in a shot to the suspenseful narrative. James Stewart and Grace Kelly are wonderful, and Kelly’s character intro is one of the best of all-time. The Crew discusses… If you like our music intr...

Episode 218: The Crew’s taking the Sam Wheat sexy pottery course while watching Jerry Zucker’s Ghost. In 1990 Ghost was a huge surprise box-office hit making $505 million worldwide. Whoopi Goldberg took home an Oscar for Supporting Actress, and Bruce Joel Rubin won Best Original Screenplay. This film has so much great filmmaking on display, and that pottery wheel scene is iconic. The Crew discusse...

Episode 217: The Crew’s wondering why the rum is all gone while discussing Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Director Gore Verbinski made Pirate films cool again after decades of box office bombs in the genre (Cutthroat Island, Pirates). The supernatural curse plot probably helped the box office with the shots of the skeleton pirates in the trailer. Johnny Depp became a super...

Episode 216: The Crew’s on a bus rigged to explode if it drops below 50 mph, while watching Jan de Bont’s Speed. Jan de Bont (the cinematographer of Die Hard) directs the best Die Hard knockoff that critics and audiences made a box-office hit in the summer of 1994. The pairing of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock is brilliant and made both of them box-office draws. Everything works so well in the fi...

Episode 215: The Crew’s Fourth of July barbecuing with Aliens while watching Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day. This was a mega blockbuster, and is still one of the highest grossing original films. Will Smith became a movie star and released a huge movie every Fourth of July for the rest of the 90’s. Despite the alien invasion storyline the film follows more beats from a disaster film. The Crew d...

Episode 214: The boys are back in town! The Crew’s solving a crime with the help of a convict, while discussing Walter Hill’s 48 Hrs. This was Eddie Murphy’s first film and a huge box-office hit. Launching Murphy into stardom and laying the groundwork for the buddy cop genre that exploded in the 80’s. The Crew discusses… If you like our music intro, head over to Soundcloud and hear more amaz...

Episode 213: The Crew’s investigating a murder in the deep racist South while watching, In the Heat of the Night. This 1967 film was made during the civil rights movement and deals with racism better than lots of modern films. This is a masterpiece of a message film, wrapped in a genre story (murder mystery). The film won 5 Oscars six days after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The Crew di...

Episode 212: The Crew’s giving each other Macho High Fives while discussing Tango & Cash. Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell have great chemistry together as two LA cops framed for murder. The film was a box-office hit; which was welcomed news to Warner Bros after a troubled production. Three different directors were hired and fired, and Stallone did uncredited rewrites on set. Despite the re...

Episode 211: The Crew’s waiting by the phone for a ransom call, while watching Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour. This film was a box office hit and spawned two successful sequels. Jackie Chan already brought some of his Hong Kong martial arts films to the US theatrical market; but this was his first US financed hit. Chris Tucker became a hot talent after Rush Hour, building his audience after standout per...

Episode 210: The Crew’s searching for a lost Cheyenne tribe in the Oxbow, while watching Tab Murphy’s 1995 film, Last of the Dogmen. This film was a box office bomb, and has largely been forgotten. Not the film’s fault; both production companies went bankrupt within two months of the films release. This caused the theatrical release window too shorten and reduce the number of prints shipped to the...

Episode 209: The Crew’s falling in love with Brad Pitt’s long flowing hair in Edward Zwick’s Legends of the Fall. This film was Pitt’s first time delivering a leading man performance in a big budget studio film. And the box office dollars earned helped establish Brad Pitt as a movie star. But the supporting cast may steal the show (Hopkins, Ormond, and Quinn standout). Director, Ed Zwick continued...

Episode 208: The Crew’s running from a pair of man-eating lions while discussing Stephen Hopkins’ The Ghost and the Darkness. The film had a pair of stars (Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer), an Oscar winning screenwriter and cinematographer (William Goldman and Vilmos Zsigmond), and was based on a crazy true story. Despite all this talent, the film wasn’t a box-office hit. And the Crew has different...

Episode 207: The Crew’s running in the forest with a sexy Daniel Day-Lewis while discussing Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans. This was the box-office success that took Michael Mann from TV (Miami Vice) to big budget films. Daniel Day-Lewis was fresh off his first Best Actor Oscar (he won three throughout his career). The soundtrack, cinematography, editing, and every performance are prefect...

Episode 206: The Crew’s trying to escape the Motaba virus while watching Wolfgang Petersen’s Outbreak. The film was a box-office hit in 1995, and had a loaded cast with hot newcomers (Kevin Spacey, Patrick Dempsey, and Cuba Gooding Jr.) and veteran talent (Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Donald Sutherland, and Morgan Freeman). Wolfgang Petersen treats the story like a disaster film, which makes it ent...